'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' documentary reveals fresh secrets

AUSTIN, Texas -– Sitting in a gorgeous movie theater and watching fresh Star Wars content is something I didn’t think I’d get to experience until Rogue One. Then on Monday, Star Wars: Secrets of The Force Awakens documentary happened.

Disney and Lucasfilm held a special, one-time only theatrical screening at the majestic Paramount Theater in downtown Austin for the new Making of documentary, which will be included with the Blu-ray edition of Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it arrives on April 5.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Is it possible to get chills watching what is, in essence, an hour-long rehash of a film you’ve already seen, maybe more than once? Yes it is.

Broken down into chapters dealing with the script and casting, the first big shoot, creatures and motion capture, and Solo’s death scene, the documentary expertly blends clips from the actual film with tons of behind the scenes footage and interviews. They convey both the gravitas and sheer joy of reviving the beloved franchise.

Even before the screening began, there was a moment: Director J.J. Abrams surprised the audience (1,200 strong) and introduced the documentary. He thanked fans and his colleagues for the success of the film, which thus far has amassed nearly $2 billion in box office receipts (and is sure to break records in Blu-ray). Abrams also admitted, “We worked so hard and were so terrified when it came out that it might not work.”

Behind the scenes at Star Wars: The Force Awakens shoot.

Image: Disney, Lucas Film

The documentary interviews are both revealing and, at times, quite funny. In a bit of smart self-awareness, it opens with cast members being shocked to learn that, for the purposes of this documentary, they do not have to keep secrets for the now famously locked-down production.

The returning cast offers some of the more revealing comments regarding their thoughts on returning to the Star Wars franchise after a 35-year hiatus, though the best line comes, naturally, from Carrie Fisher, “Really, we waited this long? I looked better 10 years ago.”

What we learned

Considering that most people who’ve seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens have probably seen it more than once, it would seem unlikely that there’s anything they didn’t know about the movie. Even so, I spotted a bunch of interesting tidbits.

Luke will fight, maybe

During a production meeting a large painting of a grey-bearded Luke is seen clearly in the background. It’s notable because while Skywalker’s look matches his brief appearance in The Force Awakens, he’s wielding a lightsaber in battle. Is it a depiction of a cut scene, an early script concept or, maybe, a scene from the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII?

The early script writer was too slow

While the script-writing duties were originally handed to Michael Arnt, the screenwriter’s typical 2-to-3-year writing process ultimately, according to Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, mesh with their need to get the film out by 2015, so they handed the reins over to Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote The Empire Strikes Back.

Somewhere there is a massive archive of props from the original Star Wars trilogy

During the production-design phase, crew members visited an awesome, hidden museum which include original Imperial Cruisers from the early films and even what appeared to be a 5-foot-tall, under-construction Death Star models. Abrams' team studies these and other artifacts not only to be become students of Star Wars and, as Kennedy put it, “to understand the rules. Once we did then we could branch out.”

Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, absolutely killed it in auditions

In one clip Abrams asks her to act out the scene where Kylo Ren is using the force to read her thoughts. Ridley brings just as much raw, emotional power to her audition as she did to the scene in the final film. The performance drew more than a few “wows” from the audience.

Boyega was no lock

Abrams said that John Boyega, who plays Finn, the defecting storm trooper, was the cast's biggest Star Wars fan. He also auditioned for the role nine times. These facts may be related.

BB-8 was mostly a puppet

While there were numerous BB-8 robots built for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the scene-stealing droid didn’t always stand on his own. When we first see it racing across the desert, it’s actually attached to a push handle swathed in green-screen material. Many of the so-called “instant gag performances” were basically done via puppeteering. This does not make us love BB-8 any less.

Poe Dameron was supposed to die

When Oscar Isaac, who plays the maverick X-Wing pilot Poe, first read the script, he died early in the film (probably in that Tie-Fighter crash). Isaac was hesitant to take on the role because, he said, his characters had all died early in four of his previous films. However, soon Abrams and company had rewritten Isaac’s role — he’ll obviously be back for Episode VIII.

Kylo Ren’s entire outfit was supposed to be chrome

The original concept for the villainous Kylo Ren was supposed to be all chrome armor, but that didn’t fit with Abram’s vision. However, Kennedy saw the drawing, loved it and said the costume design had to be in the film — and so it went to Captain Phasma.

Where Phasma got her name

Gwendoline Christie’s chrome-clad villain got her name not from one of George Lucas’ lost notes, but from a favorite film of J.J. Abrams’s youth: Phantasm. The 1979 horror film features a murderous, floating chrome ball.

They had better lightsabers

In the original Star Wars trilogy, the actors wielded, essentially, painted sticks during lightsaber battles. The cool laser effects were hand-roto-scoped afterwards. For Star Wars: The Force Awakens the actors got to swing around LED equipped sabers: Totally safe, totally cool, and even put the glow on their wielders' faces.

Peter Mayhew had limited role

Mayhew, the man who inhabited the yak-hair covered costume for over 20 years, didn’t play him for most of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The actor needed knee replacement surgery and couldn’t participate in many of the running and walking scenes. As a result, 7-ft-tall Joonas Suotamo did a significant portion of Chewbacca’s on-camera work.

Abrams drew inspiration from wherever he could

The hobbyists go legit

When it was time to build new R2-D2s for the new film, Kennedy tapped the fanbase and invited R2-D2 builder club members to join the team and build production models.

R2-D2 was the seocnd surprise guest at the SXSW panel devoted to the new documentary: Star Wars: Secrets of The Force Awakens.

Image: Mashable, Lance Ulanoff

Ford kept it comfortable

Many in the audience chuckled when we noticed that, in one behind-the-scenes shot, Harrison Ford (Han Solo) dashed through the Millennium Falcon while wearing a pair of brightly colored sneakers. Guess you can do what you want as long as it’s out of frame.

Tiny island

The Island of Skellig, which is off the coast of Ireland, is so small, they could only bring on 50 crew members. They all had to climbed 600 steps and hand-carry all the equipment to film the movie’s final scene.

Even though Star Wars: Secrets of The Force Awakens is packed with new insight about the movie, it also manages to leave much on the table. Surely there is enough for hours more documentary footage, which you’ll likely find on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray when it arrives next month.

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